Original subtitles

BASED ON " THE TONGUE OF THE BUTTERFLIES", " CARMlNA "...

...AND "A SAX IN THE FOG" FROM THE BOOK...

..."DO YOU LOVE ME, MY LOVE?" BY MANUEL RIVAS.

Andr�s, wake up.

What do you want?

Did they hit you at school?

Of course they did.

I won't go.

Where?

To school.

Besides, I can already read.

I'll go to America, like our uncle did...

to get out of the war.

What are you saying?

I don't want to be hit.

By who?

By the teacher. He looks mean.

Go to sleep.

You don't want to fall asleep in school.

Then you really would get it.

BOYS

Look, there he is.

- Good morning. - Good morning.

Here he is.

So you know how to read?

His father taught him while he was ill.

You said he was asthmatic.

Yes, but he's better.

He's shy.

He needs it in case he has an attack.

A kiss, son.

Be patient with him, he's a sparrow...

out of the nest for the first time.

Come on, son.

Good morning.

Good morning, Don Gregorio!

You, the new boy...

stand up!

Your name?

Sparrow! His name's Sparrow!

Please!

Come over here.

Answer. Or do you want us all to call you Sparrow?

He's wetting his pants!

Wait. Come back here!

What's wrong, son?

Moncho, what are you doing here?

Moncho!

Where were you going?

Like I said. His plan was to go...

to La Coru�a and get on a ship to America.

That little devil.

Have some cheese.

You shouldn't have bothered, madam.

- How is he now? - Perfect.

I can't believe it.

All night, outside with no food...

freezing, and he didn't even catch a cold.

Why does he think I hit students?

They hit me at school.

I don't.

I've never hit anyone.

Least of all a child.

Tell him I've come to apologize.

Please, Don Gregorio...

it's not your fault.

He's a sensitive boy.

I want to apologize...

and ask him to return to school.

You won't have any cheese?

- Please call him. - Yes, sir.

I like that name. Sparrow.

We'll only use it if you like it.

And forgive your schoolmates, they aren't so bad.

Someday you'll laugh at them.

It's very good.

Quiet! Quiet!

Sit down!

Today we have a new pupil.

That is a joy for all...

and we shall greet him with applause.

Very good.

Pull up that chair and sit down next to me.

Today we'll begin with a poem.

Who?

Romualdo. What will you read?

A poem, sir.

Which one?

Antonio Machado's "Childhood Memory."

Very good. Go ahead.

Remember, slowly and clearly.

And watch the punctuation.

"A cold gray winter afternoon.

"The pupils study.

"Monotony of rain behind the windows.

"The classroom.

"A picture shows Cain, fugitive...

"and Abel dead...

"next to a crimson stain."

What does "monotony of rain" mean, Romualdo?

When it rains, it pours, Don Gregorio.

Good.

Now, a dictation...

Hello.

Come in, come in.

How are you?

I'm fine. But the boy isn't.

I don't understand.

Yesterday I gave him a math problem...

and he was hopeless.

Yes. It's true he should work a bit harder, but...

Spare the rod.

Get those numbers into his head.

Give them to the teacher.

No, I can't accept them.

You won't snub me?

Please, Don Avelino...

I wouldn't.

They're very good.

Like I said: Make an effort with the boy.

Good-bye.

Take these capons.

What?

Put them in your desk...

and return them to your father.

All right.

But he'll be angry.

He'll slap me.

Good Lord.

Well, then...

tell him I can't eat meat.

Fowl, I mean.

Right, tell him that.

Speaking of fowl...

If a rooster lays an egg...

on the border between Spain and France...

which country's egg is it?

Spain's.

Why Spain?

We have bigger balls!

- What do you say? - Roosters don't lay eggs.

Very good, Moncho. That's the right answer.

Moncho...

sit there, with Roque.

Romualdo, you can start the dictation.

"A cold...

"and gray...

"winter..."

Next line.

"...afternoon."

Period.

I shat my pants my first day of school.

- Hello. - Hello, son.

Don Gregorio doesn't hit!

- Really? - Really.

And he returned some capons to a powerful rich man.

Who said that?

His son, Jos� Mar�a, told me.

His dad's more powerful than the mayor.

And the capons?

A gift to the teacher to make his son learn.

But his son won't study.

He says he'll be a big shot anyway.

Know where potatoes come from?

From fields, where else?

They come from America.

Don't be ridiculous.

It's true! Don Gregorio said so!

Before Columbus, there were no potatoes in Spain.

What did people eat?

Chestnuts. There was no corn, either.

This teacher is good.

I like him.

Did you pray?

- Where? - In school.

Yes. Something about Cain and Abel.

You can't trust gossip.

Don Gregorio, an atheist!

- Atheist? - One who doesn't believe in God.

Like Daddy?

How can you say that?

He curses God.

Well, that's... That's a sin.

Just a sin.

But he believes in God, like all good people.

And the devil?

- What about the devil? - Does he exist?

Of course he exists!

He was an angel that rebelled against God.

He got pale in Hell.

So now he's the Angel of Death.

Then why didn't God kill him?

God doesn't kill, Moncho.

They say they burned churches in Barcelona!

Those Republicans are like that!

They don't burn churches.

And thanks to the Republic, we women can vote.

So what? I'd only vote for Christ the King.

Kings aren't elected.

Things are bad.

But I know the solution, yes, I do.

What solution?

Set fire to Madrid.

Don't be barbarous.

- May I, Don Gregorio? - Of course.

Come here, Ramonci�o.

Listen, Don Gregorio.

- Introibo ad altare Dei. - Ad deum...

qui laetificat iuventutem meum.

Agnus Dei qui tollis pecata mundi.

Ora pro nobis.

Agnus Dei qui tollis pecata mundi.

Ora pro nobis.

Agnus Dei qui tollis pecata mundi.

How many times is that?

You see? He can't remember "Dona nobis pacem."

He's going to be an altar boy?

He was going to be an altar boy.

Go to your mother.

As soon as he started school, he lost interest.

You're not saying I'm responsible?

I'm not saying anything. The facts speak for themselves.

Understand him. After being locked up so long...

it's natural for everything to interest him.

- What are you doing? - Nothing.

- Your brother? - He's working. Let's go.

All right.

Mommy, I'm with Aurora!

I see.

Nidos tepentes absilunt aves.

"Birds leave the warmth of their nests."

Libertas virorum fortium pectora acuit.

"Freedom stimulates the spirits of strong men."

God, that's good.

"Ashes from an arnau lizard...

"that was burned alive.

"If you mix it with coffee...

"it fires the desire...

"of even the haughtiest woman...

"and makes her yours...

"for life."

Here, Roque, it's yours.

I started this way with Carmi�a...

Carmi�a de Sarad�n! She's fire, Roque, fire!

How come we never see her?

She says she can't leave her mother...

but I think it's shame.

She has no shame at all in bed!

And if she had, give her some anisette.

No, that's for her mother.

Carmi�a doesn't need help warming up her body.

As soon as I show up, she lights up...

and presses those rock-hard tits against me.

I lay her down...

and she melts like butter in my hands.

- You hump her every day? - I wish.

Working in Coru�a...

What's going on?

But Sunday makes up for the rest of the week.

- You seem stuck on her. - She's worth it.

If I touch her, my vision is blurred.

She kisses me, my head fills with bells.

She embraces me, and I embrace heaven.

And her mother?

I haven't even seen her.

She's always in bed, she can't get up.

But that fucking dog...

- The dog? - It's named Tarz�n.

- Does it bite? - Almost.

The bastard. I drop my pants...

and I feel him gnashing his teeth behind me.

It's like he was jealous.

Know what Carmi�a does?

The more the dog growls and barks...

the more she presses herself against me.

Like it excited her.

Well, I'm on my way.

Careful with the dog.

I'll kill that bastard some day.

What will it be?

An Orujo.

Three glasses of wine.

Where are we going?

I told you: To see him hump her.

That's humping?

- Haven't you seen dogs? - When?

When a dog gets stuck to a bitch.

People do the same thing.

But men hump women when they're in love.

When they love each other.

Tie up the dog, Carmi�a.

What do you care?

Leave him alone.

He'll hump her now.

The dog will bite him!

Goddamn dog!

- Get out! - Tarz�n!

What's wrong?

Nothing.

Nothing?

Tarz�n!

You said they loved each other.

- So? - They don't.

Tarz�n!

You know there are races?

Look.

I like Chinese girls.

The teacher says we're all the same.

Chinese girls are prettier.

When I'm older, I'll go to China and marry one.

Do you know why men hump women?

The teacher taught you that, too?

They kiss and push each other.

Who?

Men and women.

Go to sleep.

And they touch each other's asses.

And now, the squash.

Make your pencils coincide with the top...

of the squash, and then...

And then use your finger to mark...

where the bottom is.

We now transfer the object's height to the paper.

Gentlemen, quiet, please.

If it doesn't work for you, raise your hand.

Gentlemen.

Quiet. Gentlemen...

quiet.

Fine. If you won't be quiet, I'll have to be quiet.

What?

FARMACIA

Andr�s!

- What are you doing? - Roque taught me how.

If Dad sees you...

He won't if you don't tell him.

How's school?

We were drawing.

Today he should have hit us.

Why?

We were shouting and ignoring him.

Instead of hitting us, he got very quiet.

And then?

Then bit by bit, we quieted down.

- Didn't he say anything? - "Thank you."

Look. I'm going to learn to play it.

How many times do I have to tell you?

You have to hold it like it was a girl.

You've never held a girl?

Youth today!

This way.

This way, firm but lovingly.

Like a lover.

Exactly!

Your brother may be the musician.

Music has the face of a woman you want to love you!

Close your eyes and imagine her!

Imagine her hair...

her eyes.

You are doing well.

You are doing very well.

- Can I play? - No, there are too many of us.

Stop!

Stop, I said!

What happened?

He hit me with the ball.

He ran into Roque.

You're like a couple of butting rams. Time for class!

Stand up, rams.

You, Jos� Mar�a...

change places with Roque.

Don Gregorio.

- But... - Yes?

Roque is my friend.

All right.

Shake hands with Jos� Mar�a.

Sit down.

Let's see.

I don't know if you've realized, but it's almost spring.

So as soon as the weather's better...

we'll do the natural history class outside.

Do you like nature?

Right.

You've never even noticed it.

Nature, my friends...

is the most surprising spectacle man can behold.

Did you know ants have herds of livestock...

that give them milk and sugar?

That spiders invented the submarine...

millions of years ago?

Did you know that butterflies have tongues?

The tongue of a butterfly...

is like an elephant's trunk...

but very thin and wound up like a watch spring.

- You know where Australia is? - In America.

In Oceania.

You know what a "tilonorrinco" is?

It's a bird from Australia.

When it's in love, it gives its girlfriend an orchid...

a flower that's beautiful and very expensive.

Hey, kids.

You're the tailor's sons, right?

An instrument?

A saxophone.

I thought so.

- Do you play well? - Great. I'll be a musician, too.

What will you play?

The piano. The sax isn't good for my lungs.

Great.

I have a band, "The Blue Orchestra."

Your father made our costumes.

"From the farthest shore, the sunset behind us...

"The Blue Orchestra, from Galicia!"

Come with me.

Then we went to the chocolate factory...

and they asked what he could play...

and I said, "In the World."

Hold on, hold on.

Why did he take you to the factory?

- The orchestra practices there. - That's news to me.

Look!

In exchange, they advertise the chocolate.

Between songs, the musicians say:

"Expr�s Chocolate, the best!"

They all say it together: "Expr�s Chocolate, the best!"

That's frivolous.

Why should a dance band be serious?

They'll pay you?

Mac�as said if I'm good, we'll see.

You see?

After all...

what has he got to lose?

Say yes, Mom!

You have to mend this.

It's big enough for both of you.

First I'll wash it. God knows who wore it.

A sax player.

Now I don't want to play piano, Mom.

Mr. Mac�as will teach me the drums.

Great.

Calm down.

- When do you start? - During the Carnival.

Ladies and gentlemen!

Ladies and gentlemen!

Your attention, please.

Ladies and gentlemen...

we're going to speak Castilian Spanish...

since we forgot Gallego on our last tour of South America.

You don't have to play.

But make it look like you're playing...

get that body movement going.

One, two, three...

Peanuts

If you want a little fun

Buy yourself a bag of peanuts

When the evening is lonely

My lovely little customer

The peanut seller belts out his pretty tune

If the little girl hears his song

She'll come down from her balcony

Little customer, don't go to bed

You see that?

And you didn't want him to play.

I didn't know he could play.

Peanuts

Little customer, don't go to bed

Without buying a bag

Let's dance!

I don't know how.

It's time you learned.

When the evening is lonely, my little lovely customer

The peanut seller belts out his pretty tune

If the little girl hears his song

She'll come down from her balcony

- You know who I am? - Yes.

- Who? - Aurora.

How did you recognize me?

I don't know.

- Because you're the prettiest. - You couldn't see my face.

Look, the sax player is my brother.

- Do you know how to dance? - More or less.

Come on.

Well done, Sparrow.

Wait.

Remember what I said about a butterfly's tongue?

- It's like a watch spring. - Right.

And why?

To reach the nectar...

flowers keep in their chalices.

Carefully, without bothering them.

What's nectar?

Nectar is a sugary juice flowers secrete...

to attract insects.

In exchange...

insects spread the seed of the flowers.

Look, there's one.

When you touch the sugar jar with a moistened finger...

don't you already taste it...

as if your fingertip were your tongue?

The tongue of a butterfly is like that.

Smelling the nectar...

the butterfly unrolls its tongue...

and reaches the bottom of the chalice.

Look at this anthill!

Don Gregorio!

Don Gregorio!

He's choking!

Thank God you thought of the water thing.

It happened before.

On his First Communion.

He was about to take Communion, and he was so excited...

he got an attack.

A miracle!

We got some holy water, splashed it on his face...

and he was cured.

Well, the river water isn't holy...

and it worked, too.

I'll give you some soup to warm you up.

She's mystical.

And you're Republican.

I'm in Manuel Aza�a's party.

- Don Gregorio. - Yes?

If it's not a problem...

I'd like to measure you for a suit.

A suit?

A gift.

It's just I'd like to do something for you.

And I know how to make suits.

It's my trade.

I have a great deal of respect for trades.

And I appreciate your offer. But my principles...

Principles between friends?

We are friends, aren't we?

Fifty-four.

Seventy-one.

Forty-three.

MEASUREMENTS DON GREGORIO

- What are you thinking about? - The teacher.

He's such a good person.

I'm glad you're making him the suit.

Teachers don't earn what they should.

They're the light of the Republic.

The Republic!

Where will we end up with that Aza�a?

What's wrong with Aza�a?

What you hear at Mass, I'm sure.

I go to Mass to pray.

You do, but the priests...

go for another reason.

Well, don't get angry.

Moncho is all right.

Give me a kiss.

- Good night. - Don't be so boring.

Your father really is an artist.

Look how elegant I am!

My poor wife. I lost her...

when she was only twenty-two.

As the poet said, "An abandoned bed...

"a cloudy mirror, and an empty heart."

"An abandoned bed...

"a cloudy mirror, and an empty heart."

In other words, I ended up all alone.

You read much?

Comic books.

It's time you start reading real books.

Books are like a home.

THE CONQUEST OF BREAD

In books...

our dreams take refuge so as not to freeze to death.

Here, borrow this.

TREASURE ISLAND

You'll like it.

And I have a present for you.

Open it.

You know what it's for?

I got it!

Be careful.

Don't hurt it.

It's an Iris. Beautiful!

You see? It has four wings.

The color and shine...

come from a series of overlapping plates...

scales placed one over the other, like roof tiles.

And the tongue?

The tongue is called "proboscis."

Let's see it.

No, right now it's rolled up...

otherwise it couldn't fly.

We'd need a microscope to see it.

What's that?

A device for seeing infinitely small things.

I ordered one for the school...

but you know things go slowly in Madrid.

If we get one, we can see its tongue.

A cricket!

It's a "Prince Cricket."

How do you know?

It sings better than a "King Cricket."

That way.